NAMM’s Museum of Making Music Raises Funds and Spirits with Emmylou Harris Benefit Concert

On Wednesday, October 6, generous arts, civic and music patrons gathered to enjoy an evening of musical performance by GRAMMY® Lifetime Achievement award-winner, acclaimed musician, and trailblazer, Emmylou Harris. The benefit concert for NAMM’s Museum of Making Music (MoMM) welcomed patrons at the Belly Up Tavern in Solana Beach, California and raised over $150,000, which will help the not-for-profit fuel its mission to offer educational immersion opportunities, exhibitions, hands-on experiences and live performances that inform and inspire guests as they learn how musical instruments impact popular culture and connect lives.

Patrons of the evening enjoyed a ninety-minute performance of inspiring musicianship spanning Harris’s discography and four decades of hits. The set started with one of the musician’s most-loved songs, “Two More Bottles of Wine,” and finished with a rousing encore performance of “Rose of Cimarron.” The performers received several standing ovations along the way.

Carolyn Grant, executive director of the MoMM says, “We are overwhelmed by the generosity of our patrons and the talent of Emmylou Harris in what can only be described as truly a magical evening. The impact of tonight’s event will ripple through our community helping people of all ages have access to music-making opportunities.”

Donations raised at the gala will help support the museum’s year-round efforts to bring music education to the community at-large. Prior to the pandemic, the MoMM hosted thousands of school-aged children each year, many from Title I schools, for tours that provided educational enrichment. In 2018, the MoMM established a music program with San Pasqual Academy to provide the school's foster youth with individualized lessons and opportunities to explore the larger world of music-making and careers in the industry. North Coast Strings and New Horizons Band programs, musical ensembles designed to be an entry point for adults, are also hosted and organized by the museum. Other MoMM galas have presented notable names, including Graham Nash and Mavis Staples, and its Live@MoMM concert series brings musical masters from around the globe as well as our backyard to perform in an intimate listening environment.

Earlier this year, the MoMM celebrated its reopening after an extensive renovation, the first major redesign after the MoMM’s founding in 2000. The new MoMM takes visitors from near and far on an immersive journey of musical exploration and discovery as told through instruments, artifacts, and multimedia displays featuring video stories, photographs, performance clips, and interviews from the instrument creators, artists, and industry innovators. Across the MoMM’s four new galleries, guests can experience key themes of “Making the Instruments," "Providing the Instruments," "Using the Instruments," and “Beyond the Instruments,” and develop a greater knowledge of how instrument creators and external events have brought us the music we make and enjoy. Learn more here: https://museumofmakingmusic.org/reopening

The gala event was made possible by generous contributions from the Kenneth T. and Eileen L. Norris Fund, Aaron Chang Ocean Art Galleries, Accretive of San Diego, The Burger Family Fund, Burger Construction, H2O Odyssey, The Inn at Rancho Santa Fe, Bill and Jenny Klein, The Lamond Family Fund, The Lippin Group, Morrison Hotel Gallery, and Sandy Radom Photography.